Monday, January 23, 2006; A13

Lacking proof from most of the states, federal officials are concerned that many foster children are not being visited regularly by caseworkers.

Only 19 states and the District were able to produce computer-based reports detailing how often such visits occurred in fiscal 2003, according to a new report by the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Seventeen of those states required monthly visits. Yet, five reported that less than half of their foster care children were visited that frequently. Another five states reported a visitation rate of 75 percent or less.

Most states said they lacked the resources to produce such a report or they did not have a computer record-keeping system. The federal government and state governments have spent $2.8 billion developing such systems since 1994.

"We're not surprised at what the inspector general found," said Wade Horn, HHS assistant secretary for children and families. He said he shared concerns that states need to do a better job of tracking caseworker visits.

Child welfare experts say caseworker visits are among the most important tools states can use to protect foster children. "The more frequently a child is visited in foster care, the better the outcome for that child," Horn said.

Nationally, about 500,000 children are in foster care, a number that has been declining in recent years, Horn said.

All states must comply with federal regulations to get federal funding for their foster care programs, but each state determines how services are provided. Forty-three states call for monthly visitation. The others set visitation standards ranging from weekly to quarterly.

The government can financially penalize states that do not show improvement in key areas such as caseworker visits. So far, the Bush administration has resisted that approach. "The goal of the [reviews] has not been to penalize states, but to work with them to improve the effectiveness of their child welfare systems," Horn said.

He said he was prepared to enact sanctions for states that fail to improve. "Our hope is that every state will show progress," he said.

Daniel R. Levinson, the HHS inspector general, recommended that the government promote the development of computer tracking systems, which would improve states' abilities to ensure caseworkers visit foster children.

The federal government provides 75 percent of the funding for such automated systems, Horn said. The IG's report noted that 45 states and the District are in various stages of developing their computer systems but six states, unnamed in the report, have no such systems planned.

For the 31 states that could not produce reports, the IG's office repeated some reasons they were given. "We don't have the manpower to generate reports," an unidentified official from New Mexico told the inspector general.

The IG's office found the following rates for monthly visitation in 2003: Wyoming, 27 percent; West Virginia, 42 percent; the District, 43 percent; Kentucky, 44 percent; New Hampshire, 49 percent; Massachusetts, 50 percent; Tennessee, 53 percent; Arizona, 59 percent; Arkansas, 71 percent; and Texas, 75 percent.

-- Associated Press